


Complete Coincidences

by shinyopals



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awesome Peggy Carter, Captain America: The First Avenger, F/M, POV Peggy Carter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 16:31:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5011816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinyopals/pseuds/shinyopals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>‘Peggy,’ Steve says. ‘You’re looking… ah… well.’ </i>
</p><p> </p><p><i>She’s covered in mud and is fairly confident there are still twigs in her hair. Military camps, particularly those that are smaller and closer to the fight - where she’s been assigned recently - have never been as glamorous as the numerous </i>Captain America<i> films told the world.</i></p><p>Peggy's just doing her thing, trying to end the war. Steve just so happens to bump into her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Complete Coincidences

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Haro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haro/gifts).



> [Haro](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Haro/) challenged me to Camellia ("my destiny is in your hands") and Steggy from [this prompt list](http://shinyopals.tumblr.com/post/130956896565/flowers-and-prompts). This is the result. It got longer than I expected.

The first pink of the oncoming dawn heralds Peggy’s arrival back at the camp after a long night’s work. Underfoot, the leaves crunch thanks to the chunky heaviness of her well-worn boots and she doesn’t miss the clack of heels at all. All the same, she’s tired, dirty, and longs for a bath, but the day is only just about to start.

She dismisses the men who accompanied her and makes for the command tent, taking in as she goes that there are more men in the small camp than she remembers from the previous evening.

The cause of that makes itself apparent when she enters the tent to find her current CO, Major Brett, and a Captain she doesn’t recognise. The raised eyebrows from him at her entry make Peggy force a careful blankness on her face. She has better things to do than a drawn out discussion of the appropriateness of her presence here in occupied territory.

‘Carter, this is Captain Campbell,’ says Brett. ‘He’s our support for this. What’s your report?’

‘Sir,’ she says briskly, ‘the base is there, as we expected it, but they look to be packing up and leaving. They must know we’re close.’

Brett nods. ‘The approach?’

‘Heavily mined and guarded. We’d never have made it without the cover of the dark.’

‘And Stark’s detectors?’

Peggy pulls the mine detector from the pouches of her uniform. It emits a low thrumming feeling into her hands at the metal and weaponry it’s surrounded by in the camp. ‘Effective enough. We didn’t trigger anything, after all.’

She thinks she might owe Stark five dollars thanks to that, but she’s relieved enough that they actually worked to not begrudge him winning the bet.

Brett nods. ‘Looks like our best plan is to send a small team tonight with some explosives before they get out.’ He pauses to consider the papers in front of him, and the Captain next to him leans over too. Then Brett looks up again. ‘Take yourself off, Carter: mark up a map of the area for tonight’s force, then get some rest.’

She hesitates for a moment and he raises an eyebrow.

‘What is it, Carter?’

‘Sir, I’d like to lead the team back,’ she says. ‘I know the route now. It’ll be faster and safer than sending those who’ve never been, even with these detectors and my map.’

She sees the slight twitch of amusement in Brett’s eyes, combined with resignation. ‘I’ll consider your experience when I decide,’ he says.

She lets out a breath, nods, and leaves the tent. She doesn’t leave quickly enough to avoid hearing Campbell begin to speak. ‘Sir, with all due respect-’ At that, she speeds up. Brett is no Philips, but he sent her on the recon mission and knows what she’s capable of. She’ll have to count on him to make the right decision. 

The next couple of hours she passes with some frankly disgusting coffee, even by field standards, and a set of charts of the nearby area which she annotates as best she can through her yawns. She marks out the minefields, the sentry routes, and the various other traps she and her small team found.

Eventually, she sends her work back to the Major, curls up under a scratchy, only-slightly-damp blanket, and sleeps.

~*~

She wakes too soon, to the sounds of rushing feet and men shouting and instantly she’s at her feet, feeling for the gun she keeps by her side.

Seconds pass before she realises the shout aren’t fear and there are no shots, smoke, or flames. Instead, the noise is excited - joyful even. Stepping out of her shelter and into the day she sees a mob of men. Or rather, as much of a mob as the small encampment can manage.

It’s not until she sees Gabe Jones and Dum Dum Dugan at the side of the mob that she realises who must be at the centre and she unconsciously finds herself stepping forward before forcing herself to stop. _Not_ surrounded by the men, she reminds herself.

‘Coffee?’ she calls to Gabe and Dugan and gestures towards the mess tent.

They greet her enthusiastically. ‘Peggy! What a coincidence!’ says Dugan.

‘Yeah,’ agrees Gabe. ‘I’m sure it was a complete coincidence that had Cap picking this exact direction to march in.’

‘It’s not like Europe is a big place. Could’ve run into you anywhere, Peg.’

Peggy holds her head high and gives them extra coffee as revenge. The disgusting concoction distracts them as they complain about what they’re drinking. Dum Dum produces a bottle of something that smells like rubbing alcohol to share, which takes the edge off the foul coffee. Peggy, tired though she is, cheerfully accepts, perches on the edge of a table, and listens to them showing off about their battles. The rest of the Commandos, except Bucky Barnes and, of course, Steve, join them soon enough, and they trade a few stories. Here, at least, she doesn’t have to hold herself to the perfect standards that she must everywhere else.

At long last, Steve and Barnes sidle their way in. Steve is instantly rushed at by the other soldiers in the Mess tent and Peggy holds herself patient once more. 

It’s been a couple of months since she’s heard from him and even longer since she’s seen him. If she’d waited in the relative safety of the English countryside, perhaps more of his letters would have found her. Instead their notes chase each other in hopeless circles around Europe. Military post can cope with one constantly moving person, but not so easily two.

He’s more comfortable with the admiration of the soldiers than he was, she notices. Every time she sees him he’s grown a bit more confident - a bit more _Captain America_. He’s still holding something back, she can see it in the smile that doesn’t quite soften his eyes, but even after months of stage performances it’s only now he’s here in the real world that he’s coming into himself.

She’s certainly not paying attention to the others any more, and when Jim Morita says something to her and she doesn’t reply, Dugan laughs. 

‘Our Peg’s got more important things on her mind,’ he says.

Her snappish reply vanishes on her tongue when suddenly Steve’s part of the group. Something in his eyes lights up when he sees her and she tries to ignore the way it makes her stomach tumble.

‘Peggy,’ he says. ‘You’re looking… ah… well.’ 

She’s covered in mud and is fairly confident there are still twigs in her hair. Military camps, particularly those that are smaller and closer to the fight - where she’s been assigned recently - have never been as glamorous as the numerous _Captain America_ films told the world.

Beside Steve, Barnes sighs and shakes his head.

Peggy tries to suppress a smile. Sometimes she worries that one day she’ll run into him after several months of separation, and he’ll have learned how to talk to women. 

‘So what’s your mission here?’ he asks, which earns him another sigh from Barnes. Peggy doesn’t mind - she’s half hoping he’s here to help and not just passing through. She fills him in on what she discovered the previous evening and what she knows of the plans for that night, skirting over her own wishes and fears about what her role will be for the moment. 

By dint of the Howling Commandos fetching themselves more coffee and beginning to wander away - Barnes the last to go, with a wink at Steve she pretends she doesn’t see (she also pretends not to see the faint pink on Steve’s cheeks that follows) - they’re soon alone together. Or rather, they would be alone were it not for the constantly interrupting soldiers from the camp. She doesn’t blame the men: it is _the_ Captain America, and they need all the joy they can get. But once she’s decided they’ve had enough of Steve and it’s her turn, she tells Steve to follow her as briskly and professionally as she can, inventing orders from the Major.

Instead she leads him to the storage area at the back of the camp. Boxes of ammunition and food covered by a canvas roof protect from wind, rain and sight. It’s the sort of place she seeks out in every new camp for when she needs a moment alone.

Grabbing a blanket and pushing it to the floor, she drops down and groans with relief to be off her feet. Steve waits for her invitation before sitting beside her, a shy smile gracing his features.

‘So how has it been?’ she asks. ‘Really now.’

‘Not nearly as dramatic as the newsreels say, I promise you,’ he says. She raises an eyebrow. She knows for a fact he’s taken out a further Hydra base since last she saw him. He sees her look and laughs. ‘I didn’t say it was _boring_ ,’ he said. ‘It feels… well, some days are better than others.’

‘That’s always the way,’ she says. ‘The top brass are all thrilled of course. I expect there’ll be a long list of medals awaiting you once the war is over, if what I hear’s anything to go by.’

‘Right now I’d definitely trade that for a hot bath and a good cup of coffee.’

‘Coming from the man who tried to enlist no less than five times?’ she says, smiling. ‘Not regretting it, are you, Captain Rogers?’

‘I should have kept the job with the singing and the tights,’ he quips with a grin. ‘I got to bathe every day.’ He brushes his hair with one hand before his face turned serious. ‘How’s it been for you? Can’t be easy out here for you.’

She raises an eyebrow. ‘It’s not easy for you or for anyone else either.’

‘No,’ he says, ‘but I don’t have the men on my own side fighting against me, not since my growth spurt.’

‘You’re not the only one who would trade it all for a hot bath,’ she says. He smiles, but raises his eyebrows in wait of a serious answer. Peggy sends him a wry smile herself. ‘It’s better than it has been,’ she admits. ‘For a while it seemed like Colonel Philips was the one man who would trust me with anything, but slowly the group expands.’ She thinks of Captain Campbell and frowns. ‘Not that there aren’t battles I still have to fight,’ she admits.

‘If they could see you how I do-’ he says, and she’s touched at the anger in his voice before he breaks off.

She takes his hand and laces her fingers through his. ‘I know,’ she says, although with the look in his eyes at that moment - joy bundled up with surprise - she’s rather glad the entirety of the American army doesn’t see her how he does. That would certainly complicate matters.

She kisses him rather suddenly, because she’s wanted to for a very long time. She’s been brought up to know that she’s supposed to leave the first move to him, but frankly she isn’t prepared to wait that long. Besides, if she’s not meant to kiss a man, she’s certainly not meant to be sitting in a field in occupied Europe ordering soldiers around whenever given the chance.

It’s not extravagant - just a press of her lips to his, drawn out as much as she dares under the circumstances - but when she pulls back he’s staring at her, utterly stunned. 

‘Oh,’ he says at last. ‘I… ah… Peggy… really?’ Once again he’s the adorable, tiny, young man she took a fondness to right from his first week of training. Her smile broadens.

‘Are you _honestly_ shocked?’ 

‘I… er… now that I think about it, I don’t know a way to answer that without sounding like an ass,’ he says.

Peggy laughs, and then sees his gaze drop to her lips.

‘You can return the gesture, if you want,’ she tells him, somehow managing to feel both incredibly confident that he does, and slightly terrified that he doesn’t.

He hesitates only for a second, giving her a broad, beautiful smile as he does, before leaning forward very tentatively. Peggy smiles to herself and wraps her arms around him to make sure her opinion on the matter is very clear.

Steve seems all too happy to follow her directions.

~*~

Later, after a few more quiet kisses and an exchange of far more sweet nothings than Peggy normally has time for, she returns to the real world and to the war with a bump. Still, even as she attends a planning meeting with the Major, the two Captains and various others, she feels a little like she’s floating on a cloud. Steve is clearly desperately trying to avoid both her gaze and Barnes’ curious looks.

Brett explains the plan - a slightly more fleshed out version of what he’d suggested earlier. A small team are to attack the base, while the others spread around to pick up any stragglers. He also avoids Peggy’s gaze, even as she stares expectantly at him.

‘Captain Rogers has volunteered to help us,’ he says at last. ‘Captain, given your crew’s experience with approaching these bases, the best course seems to be to send you and your pick of men on ahead. Agent Carter’s work suggests no more than three or four.’

Steve smiles at Brett all-too-innocently. ‘Well if it’s Agent Carter’s map, surely she should take point on this? She knows the territory, and I don’t, and she may have her own views as to who should accompany her. My men and I would happily follow her if she requires our help, of course.’

He’s still not looking at her.

Peggy tosses her hair back and does her best to not look at him either. Equally, she ignores the mumblings she can hear from some of the other men - not, of course, the Commandos - and the distaste on Captain Campbell’s face.

‘In light of their experience, I’d recommend a three-man team of myself, Captain Rogers, and Sergeant Barnes,’ she says. She’s pretty sure if she leaves Bucky Barnes out, he’ll follow them, orders or not.

Brett looks between her and Steve with that same look of amused resignation. He knows from Colonel Philips that they’re friends, after all. To her relief, though, he doesn’t seem too worried about the dark gaze Captain Campbell.

‘Good choices,’ he says, spreading Peggy’s maps further out on the table. ‘Now, for the rest of the men, we’ll put them here…’

~*~

‘Cute, you two,’ says Barnes as he walks with them through the darkened forest. ‘Did you plan this?’

‘If you’re gonna complain, we’ll sub you out for Jim or Falsworth,’ says Steve with a grin.

‘Shh,’ murmurs Peggy, and both of them are instantly still and silent. She’s got bulky binoculars which allow her some night vision and can see no one around, but she’s more worried about the mined lands between them and their target. They have four hours to traverse them, set the explosives, and then escape to a safe distance. She did it the previous night, but it was tight.

‘Mines?’ murmurs Steve, no doubt remembering her map.

‘From fifty feet ahead until virtually the base itself,’ she replies. ‘I’ve a detector.’ She extracts the device from one of the pouches are her belt once more.

She almost feels Barnes shrug as much as she can hear it. ‘You two, the moonlight, Nazi minefields… I’ve been on worse dates.’

Steve snorts softly. ‘I remember,’ he says. ‘We good to go, Peg?’

‘Just about,’ she replies, fiddling with the dials on the detector. ‘I need to ensure this is correctly calibrated or else it won’t work.

‘Our destiny is in your hands,’ says Steve lightly.

‘Actually more like Stark’s hands,’ says Peggy. ‘This is his device.’

She sees the two men exchange glances and although she can’t quite read their faces, she thinks she can guess.

‘I assume,’ says Barnes, ‘that it’s too late to sub out for Jim?’

‘Relax,’ murmurs Peggy, ‘I did this last night. It’ll be fine. Fun, even. Stark’s succeeded at least once before, remember?’

Barnes snorts. ‘Oh, yeah, I remember,’ he says. ‘Steve, just remember that thanks to that success, you don’t weigh eighty pounds any more. Try not to tread on any mines.’

‘Thanks for the advice, Buck,’ says Steve sarcastically.

Peggy grins. ‘Come on, you two,’ she says. ‘And they say _women_ talk too much.’

~*~

When Stark’s detector only fails at the last possible moment (after they’ve been and gone and the base has been reduced to rubble, and they’re right on the edge of the minefield, only a short hike from the camp), leaving them thrown ten feet in the air, protected from the blast by Steve’s shield and landing in a complicated tangle of limbs at the foot of a tree, Peggy considers it to be a successful mission.

‘I hate Stark,’ mutters Barnes, from somewhere underneath her knee.

‘Peggy, you all right?’

‘Absolutely,’ says Peggy, laughing. ‘After that, I think it’s safe to say I’m no longer losing my wager with Stark.’

‘Is _this_ why you two like each other?’ asks Barnes. ‘Because you both enjoy getting pummelled by something that can break you into bits?’

Steve, lying across Peggy, grins over at her, face a little grubby from the smoke and debris. Peggy runs her fingers along the strap of the ridiculous helmet he wears and leans down to give him another very brief kiss. 

‘Well done, Steve,’ says Barnes grumpily. ‘But you’re both lying right on top of me!’

‘Oh do stop complaining, Sergeant Barnes,’ Peggy tells him cheerfully, rolling off him nonetheless. ‘We survived, didn’t we? And we won this battle. Today was a good day.’

Steve smiles at her again and she realises that she’s not even lying a little bit.

She does, however, still desperately want a bath.


End file.
